A Post-Apocalyptic Interview with Malcolm Timperley

Our next anthology, Tales from the Ruins, is going to be a cataclysmic one! It will be released on the 25th of February but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just 99c instead of $3.99. To celebrate the imminent publication of the first Black Beacon Books anthology exclusively dedicated to post-apocalyptic fiction, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Behold the maniacal workings of their troubled minds!

Hi Malcolm, 

Let’s make the first question a lighthearted one...hmm...okay, got it! Is your story simply an entertaining piece of fiction or are you giving us a peek at the terrifying fate tomorrow will unleash upon us?

Three ill-matched guys holed up in a remote farmhouse isn't that rare an event (been there, done that). Giving the threesome no alternative but to be there following social collapse is a realistic scenario, but it’d likely be for more prosaic reasons than the particular apocalypse this bunch are fleeing.

What is it that makes post-apocalyptic fiction so appealing? Would the world be better off if more people read this genre? 

It’s the feeling that this might happen to me but, thankfully, it isn’t doing. Yet. I don’t think reading more post-apocalyptic fiction would affect the world either way. Knowing that it’s fiction allows people to escape for a while, so they can leave the everyday and slip into something more comfortable. Like denial.

Do you have a favourite post-apocalyptic author? 

They’re all dead. And you wouldn’t believe what happened to them...

Some people like to listen to music while reading. Which song can you imagine providing the soundtrack to your story? 

I listen to music or I read, never both simultaneously. If music is on I shut it out completely to concentrate on the story. So choosing a soundtrack song is difficult, but I’d go for either Unfinished by The Dunes and/or Down in the Water by Oddfellow’s Casino. Sorry, that’s two choices, isn’t it? Tell you what, you listen to both of them and decide; they’re both on Bandcamp.

If you woke up in your story tomorrow, what would you do?

Try to go back to sleep. If that failed, I’d probably do pretty much exactly what the protagonist does in the story.

There are no firearms or ammunition. You have to choose an everyday object from the home or garden as your weapon of choice—what’s in your hands? 

The firewood axe from the shed. It’s sharp and has a neat non-slip handle for when things get hairy. And wet. And sticky.

Time to get more personal. Tell us three interesting facts about yourself.

1. I have dozens of friends. I keep them downstairs, arranged alphabetically.
2. I’m not one of those people who loves to hear only the sound of their own voice. I listen to
all of them.
3. I recently went a whole week eating nothing but left over bits of Waffles. I miss that dog.

What do you aim to give your readers? 

Haloperidol.

What are you working on now? 

A tale involving the ultimate horror scenario – a corporate team building awayday.

Where can we find you online? 

Wading through the sludge that sinks to the bottom of the internet. Try Twitter @MalTimperley

Thanks for playing along. Good luck in the wastelands!

Thanks. Who said I was playing?